


pull me out from the abyss

by ellipsesarefun



Series: rip out my chest to bleed my demons away [2]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Other, Unresolved, fears, i think, somewhat happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 15:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10879437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellipsesarefun/pseuds/ellipsesarefun
Summary: “We may be allies, but we’re also friends. We’re a family. You’re family.”"Even if I'm being a nuisance?""“You’re never a nuisance, Snotlout. Your feelings are never a nuisance."In which Snotlout can't sleep and Hiccup's there to listen





	pull me out from the abyss

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: very unedited  
> I really wanted to put this up before school. And to clear some space in my Tumblr drafts.

_“Good job, Snotlout!”_

Those were the words that reiterated around his mind for the past few hours now. The gang arrived the Edge with a new profound respect on _him_. _Snotlout_. He managed to surprise everyone today, even himself. The thought of initiating the attack such as today seemed surreal, yet it happened. It was over and done with like every obstacle they had faced.

However, his body lay still, dark irises blending with the nightly scene in his hut, rewinding the events of his heroic act. He blinked a few times, hoping they vanish into the endless dark ceiling. The previous nightmares resurfaced from the deep as they did so, and he shot up from his bed, leaving his hut to take a breath. Everyone had retired to their beds by then, sands deep into their eyes. Only one hut remained well lit by the fire that emitted from the burning coals. It did not take a minute for him to guess who was awake. He took amble steps, breathing in the fresh chill, eyes adjusting to the moonlit world around him.

When he reached his destination, he popped his head into the opening, and found his cousin on a chair with a pen in his hand and a notebook on his desk. After so many years, he still is the same hiccupy fishstick, mind buried into his knowledge Snotlout will never understand and a knack for sharpening axes and bizarre weapon inventions. As he pondered over the days of pushing him around like a puny worthless rag doll, someone called out his name. He shifted his eyes to his cousin’s face, expression full of concern.

“Hey, Snotlout. What are you doing up so late?” Hiccup asked, setting down his pen and positioning himself towards his cousin. The latter averted his eyes away from him, drawing his hand to scratch the nape of his neck.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Snotlout replied, voice soft. The silence droned on before Hiccup pushed himself off his seat and sauntered towards his cousin. Snotlout looked back at him with a question in those dark terracotta eyes.

“Wanna take a walk out through the Edge?” Hiccup asked, stretching a hand out at the open air, “Might take the mind off.” Snotlout dragged his hand at the back of his neck once more. 

“Sure.” He agreed and the two started their way through the path along the huts. The duration of their stroll was oddly pleasant. The late evening background emanated an air of calm, of serenity. It was an antidote Snotlout needed after the damage and weirdness he’d caused recently. The scenery cured away all his disquiet in his thoughts. He almost forgot his cousin beside him.

“Yeah.” He veered his vision back at the moon above, the only witness of this little moment, “I just... had a nightmare.”

He could hear Hiccup shifting beside him. The two have never concerned over such trifles, even when they were kids. A viking is brought up for war against the most deadliest beasts, the dragons. Shedding tears were only for the deaths of a comrade. Talking about ones’ fears is a weakness. 

It was a flawed belief that heir parents had drilled into their heads over the years. Spitelout’s sermons, while unreasonable, still serve as unwritten laws in his life, yet here in the bare night of the Edge, is the perfect place to erase them and start anew. 

“My dad told me things about you.” Snotlout carried on when he received no reply.

“All of you. Astrid, Fishface, the twins... and you, Hiccup.” As he listed off their names, he set his stocky built frame onto the ground and crossed his legs and his cousin followed after. Snotlout glued his eyes at the moon, as though that were the only person he placed his trust the most. He was not willing to gauge at Hiccup’s reaction, not yet at least.

“The things he said weren’t pretty...” He trailed off, fingers idly fiddling with the grass blades, then shook his head, “He kept yapping on about you guys have been saying mean things about me behind my back.”

His cousin parted his lips to speak, but Snotlout shook his head.

“I know that’s not true.” He continued, “He told me how all our friends are trying to get your approval to become the next leader of the dragon riders... He lied and I bought what he said anyway...”

“ _Sharpen up, boy! They’re kissin’ their way up the ladder.”_ The memory of his father’s rough words bled his eardrums. It was a frenzy of negative emotions that boggled him how monumental the control his father had over his life, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. 

It was how things worked between father and son.

“Is that why you...?”

“Acted weird?” He finished the sentence when Hiccup struggled to find the right word, “Yea.. I.. had nightmares after that.. I doubted all of you..”

The terrors he thought were subdued resurfaced in distant whispers, the tone of which they were calling his name set him on edge once more. They were mocking, demeaning, tethering his consciousness and reeled him in. His eyelids squeezed shut and his breathing staggered as the whispers grew into a cacophony of screams that sunk him further and further into his abysmal hell. His reality warped itself that he was almost unaware of a hand against his shoulder.

“Snotlout...” His cousin’s voice drifted into his ears and echoed through his abyss. The voices uttered on, goading his insecurities.

“ _Poor little Snotlout..”_

_“He had such promise...”  
_

_“I even secretly wanted to marry him, but now?”  
_

_“I always thought you’d become the leader of the dragon riders.”  
_

“Snotlout..” Hiccup’s voice reverberated through his abyss once more. It was more firm and louder than the first, yet soft spoken, like small request. The whispers faltered for a beat and Snotlout reared his head towards the sound, eyes still shut. 

“Hey, hey.. it’s okay, Snotlout.. it’s okay...” The voice carried on and the grip on the shoulder steeled but the doubt still fogged his mind as Snotlout brought a hand to curl his dark brown locks.

“We may be allies, but we’re also friends. We’re a family. You’re family.” The grip lightened and the hand ran across his shoulders and back, soothing the tension off his muscles, “And we.. all of us are willing to help you in whatever you’re feeling..”

“Even if I’m being a nuisance?” The question hangs in the air for a split second before it’s consumed by the soothing motions on his back and night background.

“You’re _never_  a nuisance, Snotlout.” Hiccup said, stamping emphasis on every word, “Your feelings are _never_  a nuisance.”

Everything happens almost simultaneously. In a crescendo, the whispers dissipated and the noises that filled his ears were his own stable heartbeat and the nature around them. His eyelids slowly opened and the moonlight showered away the black void that consumed him moments ago. His breaths matched his heartbeat and somehow everything felt lighter. 

Snotlout shifted his gaze to his cousin, noting those eyebrows crushed together, emerald irises shimmered with concern, and lips pulled into a frown. 

“Thanks, Hiccup.” The brunet responded with a shy of a smile and Hiccup gave an assured one in return.  

He knows those fears lurk under the covers of his unconscious, but as of the moment, his nightmares faded in the wake of the early morning. 


End file.
